Godzilla (1954)
The '''1954 Godzilla '''was the first modern Kaiju to make an appearance and was the catalyst for the beginning of the Second Age of Monsters, only to be succeeded by the current Godzilla a year later after his death. He was originally a prehistoric reptile that was living beneath the Pacific Ocean along with others of his kind until his home and family were killed while he himself was mutated by an American hydrogen bomb test. Godzilla began to attack fishing boats before he was discovered by a research team on Odo Island until he was later attacked by depth charges by the J.S.D.F. and declared dead. Godzilla later appeared in Tokyo and destroyed the whole city in one night, until Dr. Daisuke Serizawa used his creation, the Oxygen Destroyer, to finally kill Godzilla in Tokyo Bay. Appearance The 1954 Godzilla possesses a heavy lower body, small arms, and a large, round head. The face has a pronounced brows while the eyes were completely round with tiny pupils. Godzilla also sharp, pronounced fangs, four toes, a rough underside on his tail and a pointed tail tip, and staggered rows of dorsal plates. Personality The Godzilla of 1954 was a creature whose underwater habitat was completely destroyed by a hydrogen bomb test which killed his family and burned and scarred him, ultimately mutating him. Enraged and driven from his home, Godzilla took out his rage upon humanity, destroying any boats that he encountered and later laying waste to the city of Tokyo, sparing no one. Origins It is proposed that Godzilla was a type of prehistoric intermediary reptile related to both land and sea reptiles that slept deep underwater for millions of years feeding on deep sea organisms before being disturbed and enhanced by an American hydrogen bomb test. Dr.Yamane proposes that the original Godzilla might have been living among others of his kind prior to the detonation, but the H-bomb completely destroyed his home and drew him out. History 1954 Following an American hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific Ocean, a giant prehistoric reptile was disturbed from its underwater slumber and heavily irradiated. The monster began attacking various ships in the waters off Japan, prompting a search party to be sent to Odo Island, where some of the survivors had washed ashore. The islanders believed the shipwrecks were caused by Godzilla, a giant sea monster from their folklore which they believed would come ashore to feed on humanity. One night, a typhoon struck the island, leaving it devastated. However, it was apparent most of the damage was caused by something other than a typhoon, as houses in the village appeared to have been crushed from above. A research team headed by Kyohei Yamane was sent to the island, and discovered a giant radioactive footprint on the island, with a Trilobite embedded in it. Suddenly, the monster that was responsible for the shipwrecks and the damage on the island appeared over a hill on the island. The people fled, realizing the creature was 60 meters in height. Back in Japan, Yamane named the creature "Godzilla" after the monster from Odo Island folklore, and proposed it was a transitional organism from the Jurassic Period, related to both land-living dinosaurs and sea-dwelling reptiles. Yamane believed that Godzilla was exposed to a recent American H-bomb test, hence the radiation found in his footprint, and stressed the monster should be studied to see how he survived to this point. The J.S.D.F. sent battleships to destroy Godzilla with depth charges, declaring him dead. However, Godzilla soon surfaced in Tokyo Bay completely unharmed, plunging Japan and the international community into a state of emergency. One night, Godzilla came ashore in Tokyo, destroying the outskirts of the city before returning to the bay. In response, the J.S.D.F. erected a barrier of power lines around the heart of Tokyo, with 300,000 volts of electricity passing through them, in the hopes they would halt Godzilla. When Godzilla came ashore again one night, he tore through the power lines and melted them with a beam of radioactive heat fired from his mouth. The J.S.D.F. fired on Godzilla with artillery, but their weapons had no effect. Godzilla proceeded into downtown Tokyo, transforming the Japanese capital into a sea of flame overnight. With his rampage concluded, Godzilla returned to the bay, where he was attacked by F86F Sabre fighter jets before finally disappearing beneath the waves. In the aftermath of Godzilla's raid, Tokyo was an uninhabitable wasteland, burned to a crater and contaminated with deadly radiation. The Japanese government was at a loss in combating the monster and preventing future attacks. Scientist Daisuke Serizawa was approached by his former fiance Emiko Yamane and her boyfriend Hideo Ogata, who asked for him to use his experimental chemical weapon, the Oxygen Destroyer, against Godzilla. Serizawa was horrified by the idea of revealing his invention to the world and refused at first, but was convinced after watching a television program showing Japanese schoolchildren singing a song praying for peace. Serizawa burned his notes on the Oxygen Destroyer and handed it over to the J.S.D.F. A boat was sent to Tokyo Bay, using a Geiger counter to locate Godzilla underwater. Serizawa and Ogata donned diving suits to go underwater and detonate the device. Once they reached Godzilla, who was sitting on the ocean floor, Ogata was pulled to the surface while Serizawa severed his line and activated the device, sacrificing his own life to stop Godzilla and prevent his weapon from ever falling into the wrong hands. After a few moments, Godzilla rose to the surface and roared defiantly at the boat before sinking under the waves to his death. While the people on the boat both celebrated Godzilla's demise and mourned Serizawa's sacrifice, Dr. Yamane solemnly warned that it was unlikely Godzilla was the last member of his species, and that if mankind continued nuclear testing, another Godzilla would almost certainly appear. Roar Abilities Atomic Breath Godzilla's atomic breath has typically been shown to set entire city blocks ablaze and easily obliterate most military weaponry. His atomic breath was presented as a white, mist-like blast. Amphibious Lifestyle Though technically a reptile and not an amphibian, Godzilla has an amphibious lifestyle. He spends half of his life in water and the other on land. He is as adept a fighter underwater as he is on land. Capable of marching on the sea floor or swimming by undulating his tail like a crocodile, Godzilla is displayed as being able to breathe underwater, or occasionally hibernating in the ocean depths. Durability Godzilla displayed an immunity to conventional weaponry, virtually impervious to everything the JSDF threw at him. Dr. Yamane states that the very fact Godzilla survived exposure to a hydrogen bomb explosion is a testament to his durability. Trivia * It is believed that both the 1954 and the current Godzilla were mutated by the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb on the Bikini Atoll, though the present Godzilla wouldn't appear until 1955, a year after the first Godzilla's death. Category:Earth Kaiju Category:Kaiju Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Deceased Characters